A-Rod drops lawsuit against team doc, reiterates intent to play in ’15

Alex Rodriguez has dropped his malpractice suit against Yankees team doctor Dr. Christopher Ahmad, according to Ken Davidoff. The suit had been pending since October, when he sued pretty much everyone as part of the appeal of his record 211-game suspension. “All legal matters have been resolved. Alex looks forward to taking the field in 2015,” said spokesman Ron Berkowitz.

A-Roddropped his lawsuits against MLB, MLBPA, and Bud Selig back in February. It seems like he’s trying to un-burn some bridges at this point. Alex is still under contract through 2017 and he continues to say he wants to play once his suspension is over, so it’ll be very interesting to see what happens next year. The Yankees pretty clearly don’t want him around, but they’re stuck with him and may try to bleed whatever attendance and ratings boost they can out of him. Whether he can be an effective player is another matter.

I don’t see how they can bring him back next season. What if he needs to see the team doctor at any point? Would they really be comfortable with that knowing what he tried to do to them? Plus solarte is a better player than him at this point in their careers. Time to cut ties with him. Gotta pay him anyway

Rolling Doughnut

He will have served the suspension for cheating. Let’s see what he does when he comes back. He probably won’t be any worse than what they have out there now. Solarte better than ARod right now? Not sure I’d take that bet yet.

Silvio

“Plus solarte is a better player than him at this point in their careers.”

Minus.

“At this point” in Solarte’s career, he’s beginning to look figured out by the opposition. We’ll have to wait to see whether he adjusts to their adjustments, but it’s damn premature to think he would be better than ARod at 3B next year.

Jorge Steinbrenner

Never mind paying your debt, eh?

YankeeDJW

He’s a PR nightmare, had an injury-riddled last season, will likely be off the juice, and will have missed an entire season at the age of 38. His contract is a sunk cost. There is nothing more but bad press to be squeezed from him. Cut him and move on.

will

On his most drugged out day, he’s better than mcann or kelly johnson, ok seriously. He’s better than anyone on the field today that doesn’t play centerfield.

Jorge Steinbrenner

Oaktag

Sweet Dick Willie

I was totally unaware that Teixeira plays CF.

Live and learn.

Algernon blackwood

He should, and I think will, come back juicing harder than ever before. MLB testing is still a joke, he’s apparently one of the worst offenders and he still doesn’t have a positive test.

will

^ And if you think mcann,kelly johnson,derek jeter, roberts, mcann and gardner are better than alex rodrguez… you’re crazy

I’m One

We don’t know what he is. That’s the problem. I doubt he can stay healthy the entire season. If he comes back and performs the way he did at the end of 2013, he won’t add much value.

Still, based on what the Yankees have invested in him, I don’t think they have much choice but to allow him back and see what he’s got. It’ll be interesting, that’s for sure.

http://www.staggeringbeauty.com/ ALZ

He still produced offense at the same rate as Kendrys Morales or Sandoval in 2012-2013. Overpaid, but he saves you quite a bit of more money if you don’t have to replace him.

edb

Rate basis is great in the playoffs but actual production is needed over 162 game season. Alex hasn’t played 100 games in several seasons. Assuming he is still better than any of the other guys and will be able to get 500 at bats seems like a tough bet.

Jorge Steinbrenner

*puts arm around Will*

I hate to break it to you, bud, but…..

Frankie Cerveddardi

The Yankees need to cut ties with him. Eat the cost and get rid of this cancer. Next year you won’t have the Captain around to right the ship. A-Rod will assume leadership and the cancer will spread. The focus needs to be on the ballclub. Look at how good things are now.

Grover

Axisa and everyone on these boards kept repeating the refrain that Arod would never play again, let alone for the Yankees.

Now the refrain will begin to change, the closer we get to 2015. It was always idiotic to assume Arod could walk away from collecting a paycheck, or that a team, especially the Yankees (who have always preferred to overpay for over-the-hill vets than give young guys a chance) would be okay paying someone $30mm per year for three years and simply cut him.

Gotta love the revisionist history and group-think on these boards.

Some people need to spend more time trying to lose their virginity than parroting blog authors.

Old Man Time

Maybe thinking he will play next year is group think. After all, several people on here stated he would.

Dan

I honestly think he’ll be back next year. But he’s going to have to produce to stick around. And having been out of the game for nearly 2 full years that’s no guarantee. I imagine he dropped the lawsuit when he realized if he doesn’t play for the Yankees next year, he’s not playing. He’s untraceable and would probably get the Bonds treatment as a Free Agent. His last chance of leaving the game as a anything other than a pirriah depends on him playing on the a Yankees next year.

http://www.staggeringbeauty.com/ ALZ

Look at the production from Broberts and they still play him. He doesn’t have to be his old self, just league average.

http://riveraveblues sandy g

I believe A-Rod will finish his baseball time with Miami. The Yankeees will work out a deal with Miami giving them most of his salary just to get hid of him. A big tax hit for the yankees.

Holy Ghost

Barring injury, he’ll be back with the Yanks next season. Assuming they don’t solve their weak infield this offseason

Tyrone Sharpton

Looking forward to seeing A-Rod back with Solarte at second and Hanley or some other stat at SS to start 2014. He’ll be be better than Jeter, that’s for sure.

CashmanNinja

I’d rather he just fade into the background and not play for the Yankees anymore. That won’t be the case though because he has absolutely NO reason to leave and has 10’s of millions of reasons to keep playing. We’re stuck with him unless the Yankees bite the bullet and buy him out. I’m torn on that because as much as I want him gone…that’s a LOT of dead money they’d have to eat up. We’re basically screwed no matter what happens.

http://www.staggeringbeauty.com/ ALZ

It makes financial sense for the Yankees to not buy him out. He is still a 2-3 WAR player, even with the injuries expected. You would have to shell out an additional at least $5MM a year to replace his production with someone else.

Chip Rodriguez

A-Rod’s older, fragile, not the hitter he was. And yet last year he (with limited practice) was better than Youkilis, Nunez, Cruz, Nix, and the other scrubs at 3B.

The lineup is better with him in there, with his patience, eye, and ability to still drive a ball.

If he wants to play and wear pinstripes again in ’15, I’m all for it, even if it’s a very reduced role as a bench off the bat, or a part time platoon player. The team’s stronger with him hitting and motivated.

http://www.staggeringbeauty.com/ ALZ

Even if you can get 300 PA out of him that is fine. Arod puts up the same wrc as Morales a this point, actually plays a position, and costs very little additional money. The only easy bonus is for $6MM, and that is for 3 years. You are willing to give BRob $2MM this year, so at the same rate Arod would cost. Bringing arod back means they can spend money on another position, instead of picking one spot to go cheap on again, like Brob/KJ/Solarte this year.

http://www.staggeringbeauty.com/ ALZ

I hope he is back. He put up a 113 wrc last 2 years, and 125 the year before that. That is pretty much Kendrys Morales type production, and Arod can actually play a position. He pretty much costs nothing extra to have him play, so you are talking about having him or Brian Roberts in that 7 slot. The contract sucks, but monetarily the best move by far is by having him play.

sevrox

50% of Arod’s best is better than 100% of anything else the Yanks are running out to 3B.

Mikhel

Who’s to say that ARod won’t test positive next year in a very misterious way and banned for life? Or MLB could choose to ban him for life for associating himself with one of the current drug gurus still in contact with MLB players (David Ortiz’s personal trainer Angel Presinal in the DR? banned for life by MLB for dealing steroids and getting himself in trouble in Canada’s customs trying to introduce a briefcase with steroids).

http://www.staggeringbeauty.com/ ALZ

Even more reason that they shouldn’t buy him out.

bkight13

They need to cut ties and move on.

The salary is already money spent. See if someone wants to take it on for 20 cents on the dollar, if not, cut him loose.

The ARod era is over. Jeter will be gone and it’s time to get younger. They already have about 58m coming off the books. Build around the young pitchers with some added offense at SS, 2b, 3b and RF.

Deep Thoughts

Hate to agree with Grover (shudder) but the idea that a healthy and productive player under contract wouldn’t play because of some real or imagined “PR nightmare” was and is laughable. Concerns over a media circus are a myth, propagated and amplified by the media, and then echoed by play-at-home “I run a tight ship” GMs.

Preston

I’d have no problem with him at 3b next year. Solarte slides over to 2b and then we only have one hole in the infield to fill through FA. There are some pretty good options in FA at SS with Hanley, Asdrubal, Lowrie and Hardy. If A-Rod can’t hack it anymore you move Solarte back to third and give Refsnyder a chance to play. Of course maybe by the end of the year Solarte isn’t really in the mix for a starting role anymore, in which case the Yankees should bring back Kelly Johnson to compete with Refsnyder at 2b and back up A-Rod at 3b.

willie w

Cashman needs to put together a fan advisory panel to advise him what to do. I am not sure he would know what to do otherwise.